Amish Paste Paste Tomato OG

(85 days) Open-pollinated. Indeterminate. Always one of the most popular items in the Seed Savers Exchange. Listed members’ comments tell all: “large red meaty fruit,” “wonderful paste variety,” “great flavor for cooking, canning or fresh eating,” “the standard by which I judge canning tomatoes,” “huge production,” “great for sauces, salsa, canning.” Strong producer of oxheart fruits up to 8 oz with thick bright red flesh. Larger and better than Roma. Flavor has been consistently good even in poor tomato years. Wisconsin heirloom from Amish farmers in the 1870s, first surfaced in the 1987 SSE Yearbook. We have observed some inherent variation, based on how this variety responds to its environment. Needs room and good nutrition to set mostly nippled fruits. Crowding, shading or stress reduces fruit size and nippling. Boarded Slow Food’s Ark of Taste. ②

Additional Information

Tomatoes

Culture: Tender, cannot tolerate frost. Usually started indoors Feb–April. Avoid using fresh manure as it causes lush foliage with few ripe fruits. Instead use generous amounts of well-rotted cow or horse manure or compost to boost plant vigor, and crushed eggshells at the bottom of each hole for calcium. Heavy phosphorus needs. Respond well to foliar sprays.

Good seed retains viability so we often commission two-year productions. Organically and sustainably grown seed was rinsed with a sodium hypochlorite solution to reduce risk of seed-borne disease. This treatment poses no health risks.

Minimum germination soil temperature 50°, optimal range 60–85°, ideal temperature 77°. Emergence takes 43 days at 50°, 14 days at 59°, 8 days at 68° and 6 days at 77° and 86°. 98% normal seedlings at 59° but only 83% at 86°.

Preventing Late Blight

Late blight is here to stay. Particularly challenging for those who prefer the flavor of open-field-grown tomatoes is the seeming arbitrariness of the outbreaks. While many growers this past season in Maine were caught unprepared by an early onset of LB, others in parts of Massachusetts and Vermont were spared both early and late. Although cool temperatures, moist conditions, still air and lack of sunshine favor sporulation, spores can occur and advance in any condition of high humidity even in the absence of significant precipitation. LB might spread quickly…or not; wind-borne spores can travel hundreds of miles on storm fronts, but also can be baked into submission by the hot sun. Be prepared and employ as many preventive techniques as you are willing and able. Once LB lesions develop on your plants you need to take immediate action to halt the disease in hopes of salvaging a crop. Our recommendations:

Where possible, use resistant varieties. We offer Mountain Magic and Jasper. Unfortunately, we have yet to find a resistant main crop variety that meets our high standards for flavor. Our search continues.

Do not use saved potatoes as seed stock. Purchase only new certified disease-free seed potatoes. Click here for more potato-related info.

Plant in areas with full sun and few wind blocks. Avoid shade and moist environments. Facilitate air movement. Maintain high soil fertility.

Stay on top of the weather. Access state IPM reports, online forecasting models or smart phone apps. See below for a list of specific resources.

If you choose to spray, have a plan and materials on hand in June, so you can make quick and timely application(s) when conditions indicate.

OGS offers a full roster of preventive and post-ap products.

Most market growers and many home gardeners now grow at least a portion of their tomatoes under cover. Homemade high tunnels, caterpillars, commercial hoophouses and greenhouses can greatly reduce vulnerability though still require vigilance.

LB on tomatoes is not seed-borne. However, other tomato diseases can be seed-borne so be careful. Using fermentation to extract seed reduces risk.

Late blight does not survive on dead tissue. In frozen northern areas infected plants may be composted. However, other tomato diseases can survive on dead tissue to infect your next crop so it is probably best not to compost any diseased tomato plants.

It is unnecessary to place infected plants in trash bags. Instead, if the plants are beyond saving, pull them up and sun-cook or freeze them on the soil surface.

USEFUL RESOURCES

Consult Cornell’s Vegetable Disease website for excellent photos and information.Heron accesses the University of Maine’s Potato IPM page bi-weekly to learn where infections have been confirmed in Maine or the eastern United States. Or call 207-760-9ipm.You can also use Oregon State University’s forecast model to assess potential for spore germination and lesion formation in your area.